in 1968 I had bought a $200 car in Sweden , a 58 Morris Minor....a friend and I drove it to Italy...on Autobahn in Germany doing 85 mph (top speed) I noticed ,or thought I noticed the spokes in the steering whhel being off...as I had only owned it a week, I wasnt sure...asked my buddy ,he hadnt noticed.. drove a little further ,passed a few 18 wheelers...looked down , NOW IT HAD MOVED!spokes now moved another 30 degrees , car still going forward! of course its pretty woobly ,the steering wheel...being old I stop, pull on left wheel up front..it moved about 3/8" in out when you pull at the top ...hmmm , wonder if something is wrong? lets see other side...same thing, so I figure, 'what the heck, its just old and worn, lets go'
start up, get it in first , shift to secoind , and at that time the whole A frame on the pass side falls off! 4 bolts hold it in place, 2 weere missing , one broken off , one was still there , loose ,worn....we manage to stick that bolt back in the hole , push it in with my THUMB! then we drive carefully to the next village ,where we find a guy sitting on his front stoop , on a sunday...he tells us to have it fixed asap , but gives us 3 oversized bolts that he installs (guy is a mechanic), gives us 3 extra ,"just in case"...and wer`e on our way again....every 1/2 now we stop, check the bolts if they are tight...they are....so we keep going...now we check every hour ,then every two...we go thru the Alps, up and then down in to Italy...we keep cruising.. we come to Bologna, in the middle of town , the darn A frame falls off again! we tightened it back up...checked it every so often , and 3 weeks later, after going to Rome,Genua, Marseille, Barcelona, then via Paris ,back to Sweden....
not the only mishap we had with that car on that trip (tranny went out in Rome, electrical for int lights went out in Anzio, we got a jerking in the car that we ,nor other mechanuics could fix ,we stopped at 3 places, still did it as we came home) , but ea has its own story! last part is when we get to Sweden we get stopped by the police ,for "on the road inspection" (they do that there)...we were handed a failed inspection, cop said we didnt have brakes...car was still rolling as he had the pedal all the way down! I told him it works fine if you pump the brakes...he said thats illegal...and gave us a big red X stuck to the w/s...said the car couldnt be towed ,had to be lifted away...so I saiud , please let us go, we only have 5 more hoiurs to get to stockholm ,and I know how to use those brakes, we went over the alps with them like that! he saaid "when?" i tell him 3 weeks ago...so he says , "you`ve know about it for that long?" yes...so he gives us another ticket for knowing...LOL
walked back to the next village traded the car insight unsen...got a 58 MB 180....that ceased after 3 hrs...another story!
